Student With Hearing Loss Receives High Honors

John-Michael Stern, 22, a fourth-year professional and technical communication student from Ashland, Ore., has received an Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship Award from Rochester Institute of Technology.

To be considered for a scholarship award, students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 for at least 125 credit hours. Achievements and activities related to employment, student committees, civic activities and research are also considered.

Stern, who has been accepted into RIT’s Master of Business Administration program, is president of RIT’s chapter of the national communication honor society Lambda Pi Eta and is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. He has worked at the Harrisburg, Pa., Patriot-News, at Burger King corporate headquarters in Miami, and at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf’s marketing communications Department.

Stern also is the first student who is deaf or hard of hearing to be accepted into the RIT Honors Program, which began in 2000. Students in the program must maintain at least a 3.6 grade point average and demonstrate strong academic and extracurricular aptitude.

RIT is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging technology, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for students with hearing loss. More than 15,500 full- and part-time students are enrolled in RIT’s 340 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For nearly two decades, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT among the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. The Princeton Review featured RIT in its 2007 Best 361 Colleges rankings and named the university one of America’s “Most Wired Campuses.” RIT is also featured in Barron’s Best Buys in Education.

Web address: http://www.rit.edu/NTID

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